4 Rules For Making the Perfect Cup Of Coffee

For so many of us, our day just hasn’t started on the right foot without a cup of coffee. If you can’t wait to get one from your charismatic barista at Café Campanile, Caffee Cherry Beans, Crafted Coffee Co or any of our other many coffee hot spots, or you simply need to cut back on your daily coffee budget, then it pays to learn how to make just as good of a cup of coffee at home. Follow these rules and you will walk out of the house each morning with a happy, caffeinated pep in your step.

Rule #1: Buy quality coffee beans

You know how instant coffee tastes horrific? Well half the problem is they tend to use poor quality coffee beans. For a great cup of coffee, you need great ingredients. Look at what brand of beans your favourite café uses as a starting point, or take the easy route and go for coffee capsules from a brand that knows their coffee (read: not the cheap stuff you find in your supermarket aisle).

Rule #2: Customise your cuppa

Just like we all have different tastes when it comes to food, everyone has a flavour preference with coffee, too… you just might not be wise to what it is yet! Or maybe you never knew you had the option to be picky about the coffee you consume. But where you get your coffee beans from (they’re grown all around the world under different conditions) is just one of your considerations, as well as the technique used to roast the beans. And finally, there’s the other flavours added during the roasting process, much like when ingredients are added to wine for a unique flavour outcome. It takes some taste testing to find your perfect combo, but no doubt you’ll be happy to take on the challenge. To get started, stop by Nespresso – they have sample shots of their various pods on any given day to help you in your search.

Rule #3: Get your water temperature right

“There is both an art and science to creating the highest quality cup of coffee, and temperature is just one of the factors to consider,” says Mitch Monaghan, Nespresso’s Coffee Ambassador for Australia. To ensure your coffee never burns, Nespresso coffee machines heat the water to exactly 83°C every single time. This has been tested to be the optimal temperature to ensure your water and coffee work together to produce the best taste.

Rule #4: Take care of your coffee machine

Your coffee machine doesn’t ask for much in return for that cup of liquid elixir it delivers for you every morning; just that you give it a regular clean and the occasional descaling. Most espresso machines come with a quick-press button that allows you to flush out the internal system with water after each use. Don’t forget to also regularly clean the drip tray where coffee sediment pools. Descaling helps remove the build-up of minerals from inside your machine that gets left behind by the hot water used to make your coffee. Left untreated, it can slow the water flow inside your machine and cause heating problems. To remedy this, all you have to do is buy a descaling kit from your coffee provider and run it through the machine as per the instructions.

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